Fort Lauderdale relaxes sea wall proposal

The city isn't going to require property owners to build higher sea walls – unless their wall is in bad shape or is responsible for neighborhood tidal flooding.

The city's initial proposal to protect against rising sea levels would have required all sea walls in the city to be raised by 2035. That proposal, released in April, drew concern from waterfront communities that haven't been experiencing flooding. It has been revised to focus on areas where flooding is already a problem.

"We can phase this over time as sea levels rise," said Nancy Gassman, assistant public works director. There are about 195 miles of sea walls in the city, with four miles owned by the city.

The first plan required a minimum sea wall height that was eight inches over the current maximum allowed height. The new plan would make the minimum height for new sea walls the same as the current maximum. Officials said most new sea walls are already being built to that height of 5-feet-6-inches, measured by the mean sea level datum of 1929.

Commissioners reviewed the proposal Tuesday and are expected to vote on the measure in June. City staff will hold a public comment meeting on the proposal at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Beach Community Center, 3351 NE 33rd Ave.

If proposals are approved, officials will be able to cite property owners with sea walls needing repair or ones that are too low to keep tidal water from causing flooding. Those property owners would be given a year to meet the new height requirements once cited.

Marilyn Mammano, president of the Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations, appreciated the changes that have been made.

"A great deal of the property owners won't have to take any action," Mammano said. However, she is concerned for those property owners who will be hit immediately by the new rules and encounter significant costs.

A new sea wall for the typical 100-foot property could be as much as $125,000, city officials estimate. The sea walls will also have to be built strong enough that they can be increased up to another 1.1 feet in the future if needed to meet higher-than-expected sea level rise.

Mammano suggested the city include an initial five-year period for people to come into compliance with the new law. She also said one person raising their sea wall in a neighborhood won't be enough to make flooding problems go away.

"I am protecting my property. I'm not protecting the person next to me. I'm not protecting the street," Mammano said. "The issue of coordination becomes very important."

The new proposal will allow fixed docks to extend 10 inches above an adjacent sea wall. Floating docks will have to be permitted and permanently attached.